MILWAUKEE — In the chaos of elation, the New York Mets momentarily allowed the star of the celebration to get away Thursday night.
Quickly, someone yelled, “Where the f— is Pete?”
The search lasted mere moments.
“He’s over there!” someone else shouted.
Another Mets player then loudly gave instructions: “Everyone attack Pete!”
Within seconds, several Mets players took turns draining their champagne bottles over Pete Alonso. “Pete! Pete! Pete!” they chanted.
Alonso savored the moment. With one hand holding a can of beer and another gripping a bottle of Champagne, he wrapped his arms around Jose Iglesias and squeezed him in a bear hug.
In the embrace, Iglesias told Alonso, “Thank you for listening.”
The second baseman was referring to the message he delivered just before the bottom of the eighth inning. That’s when Iglesias, from his position at second base, told Alonso, “Next inning, you’re going to hit a home run.”
What happened next is already etched in Mets lore. In the ninth inning of the deciding Game 3 of the Wild Card Series, the Mets trailed by two runs. With one out, they had runners on first and third. Carrying a weeks-long slump with calmness, Alonso came to the plate. He hit a three-run home run off Milwaukee Brewers closer Devin Williams to save the Mets’ season and send New York to the Division Series.
Pete Alonso struggled early but before this three-run home run he told his hitting coach, “I feel like I am right there.” (Benny Sieu / Imagn Images)
“It was meant to be,” Iglesias said after the 4-2 victory. “I’ve seen walk-offs and stuff, but this is one of my happiest moments. It’s a dream come true.”
Throughout the day, Iglesias, one of the Mets’ clubhouse leaders whose catchy song “OMG” morphed into a season’s rallying cry, had offered Alonso encouragement.
“He was feeling a little off,” Iglesias said. “I just told him, ‘Be on time. Timing is everything.’ And now? Man, I feel so proud of him.”
Later, in a rare moment on the field when he didn’t attract a crowd, Alonso said Iglesias’ simple yet consistent messaging, “Meant a lot. Really, a lot. It meant so much to me.”
For some time, the Mets needed Alonso to come through. Big time. His walk year had been devoid of special moments. But club officials always said the same thing, that, with his power, he could change a game in an instant. Still, his last extra-base hit was Sept. 19. Before the home run, Alonso was 0-for-3 with a strikeout in the seventh inning. No matter. He still believed.
In the seventh inning, Alonso used a relaxed tone when he told Mets co-hitting coach Eric Chavez, “I’m just swinging right through these pitches. I feel like I am right there. One swing away.”
Recalling the conversation, Chavez said, “He was more calm than I was.”
Players often tell coaches such things, so Chavez didn’t know exactly how to interpret the message. He noticed at least one thing, though, that he’d later say would be important. Alonso, despite the slump and the heaviness of his Mets career possibly ending Thursday night, remained positive.
On a 3-1 offering from Williams, Alonso sent a changeup that got too much plate 367 feet, over the wall in right field. He said he knew right away it was a home run. On first base, Brandon Nimmo said he wasn’t too sure. After all, the Mets hadn’t hit a home run in the first two games of the series. So, Nimmo said he was simply hoping the ball would get over an outfielder’s head. But Alonso kept running toward Nimmo. So Nimmo looked over to the outfield once more, and said to himself, “Oh my God.”
By the time Alonso had reached second base, nearly all the Mets’ players had left the dugout.
“Words can’t explain,” Alonso said. “This is unreal.”
Mets owner Steve Cohen attempted to construct a couple of sentences.
“Great players, they come through in the clutch, right?” Cohen said. “Just an incredible moment for him, for the team.”
The Mets had gone far without Alonso putting them on his back. If he’s hot, the Mets are all the more dangerous heading into their matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies starting Saturday afternoon.
Before the game, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza maintained faith in Alonso yet again and said, “We’re waiting for that one swing. Hopefully today is the day.”
Well worth the wait.
“Proud of him,” Mendoza said after the game. “It’s a dream come true for him and for all of us.”
Seven minutes after the Mets advanced, and as the team celebrated on the field, the sections of fans behind New York’s dugout at American Family Field began loudly chanting, “Pete A-lon-so! Pete A-lon-so!”
It’s a name now deeply etched in Mets playoff history.
(Top photo of Pete Alonso: Credit: Benny Sieu / Imagn Images)